Author and host of the hit OUTDOOR CHANNEL show SHOOTING GALLERY spouts off...

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Sorry For Light Blogging!!!

And a warning that it will continue for at least another week. Last season SHOOTING GALLERY production was a nightmare because of the OUTDOOR CHANNEL acquisition...everything ran late, late, late, so my SG production dates ran smack into THE BEST DEFENSE and continued on until March. It was just brutal on everyone (me included) and we made the decision to push our production schedule early for the 2015 seasons, since we know there's always extra stuff at the end of both TBD and SG.

So I've been in the field Big Time at a time when I'm normally at home.

BTW, I've been thinking of doing a .22 action event for SG as a companion to the NSSF Rimfire Challenge episode. What I was thinking of was a sort of .22 3-Gun..."Tac optics" only, that is scope/ed dot dot rifle, iron sights on the pistol. Courses would be run on steel (maybe the Action Targets rimfire series); shotgun would be limited to pump or double barrel, with shotgun strings limited to 5 shots plus 1 reload on the clock. The idea would be to introduce 3-Gun to a little wider audience, plus provide us with a cool feature.

Why not use the .22 RF rules on the rifle and pistol and something short and simple for the SGN? Simplicity and commonality with what people already own will make this idea a sure success. I like your thinking.George

It's a great idea! In fact, I've never understood why the powers-that-be in "real" 3-gun didn't do it years ago. It would make for a great training ground. Just about every other sport has some manner of successful minor league, why not 3-gun?

I like the idea. For the shotgun I would limit it just just shot, no slugs. Also, keep the speed to 1200fps or less, and nothing larger than #6. You are starting to see this in the Outlaw matches as there are those using the really fast heavy loads and it is tearing up the steel targets, so clubs are putting in these rules. This would also help to keep the costs down.

Rimfire 3-Gun. Yes, please! I think that is a great idea. While not much with shooting is cheap these days, 3-gun is higher on the cost of entry list compared to other shooting competitions. A 3-gun rimfire series as a cheaper entry point could be just the thing.

Michael, if you need a few average Joe's and Jane's to run through the course, I volunteer.

What about those of us who lack the "connections" to actually get .22s? I've not found anyone in driving distance who will sell more than one box to a customer at a price nearly as much as I used to pay for a brick! And that's if they have any at all.

I get where you're coming from (simplicity, safety and/or target life), but the fact is, juggling shot and slug loads is an essential part of 3 gun. The risk of blasting a steel target with a slug can be mitigated by having the slug target be the first or last target engaged.

I've seen a bunch of pistol caliber carbine/tac shotgun matches quite often, and while it's typical for them to have at least one stage with a shotshell/slug course of fire, one thing those matches lack is transitioning from gun to gun. You either shoot the whole match with a carbine, or you shoot it with a scattergun.

Along with mixing ammunition types, I'd like to see the idea of how to safely transition from gun to gun introduced in this style of match.

I felt ashamed for what I had done. I don't have any excuses. I did what I did. I take full responsibility for myself and my actions. I wouldn't pawn this off on anybody. I'm sorry it happened. And I hurt people. See the link below for more info.